animation in C#

i want to animate a small square object along a line in C#, (black line background, small white square object moves along the black line in a smooth fashion) i am in the process of reading around trying to find out how to, however i thought asking the question here could save me hours/days in searching through MSDN/GOOGLE etc

and i have searched the C++, C# and games forums on this site with no relative posts.

thanks

luigi

Here is some code I wrote as an example for you. It should do exactly what you want. There are tons of optimizations that can be made, but this is the basics.

LT

Code:

using System;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Collections;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Data;
using System.Threading;

namespace DrawAnimation
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Summary description for Form1.
    /// </summary>
    public class Form1 : System.Windows.Forms.Form
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Required designer variable.
        /// </summary>
        private System.ComponentModel.Container components = null;


        /// <summary>
        /// The rectangle that the smaller rectangle follows.
        /// </summary>
        private Rectangle mRect = new Rectangle(10, 10, 100, 100);

        /// <summary>
        /// A timer to move the rectangle (causes the animation)
        /// </summary>
        private System.Threading.Timer mTimer = null;

        /// <summary>
        /// The point where the rectangle is along the path.
        /// </summary>
        private Point mPoint;

        /// <summary>
        /// The width of the moving rectangle.
        /// </summary>
        private const int RECT_WIDTH = 4;

        /// <summary>
        /// The height of the moving rectangle.
        /// </summary>
        private const int RECT_HEIGHT = 4;


        /// <summary>
        /// Animation rate in milliseconds.
        /// </summary>
        private const int ANIMATION_RATE = 100;

        public Form1()
        {
            //
            // Required for Windows Form Designer support
            //
            InitializeComponent();

            //You have to do this to remove the flicker
            this.SetStyle(ControlStyles.UserPaint | ControlStyles.AllPaintingInWmPaint | ControlStyles.DoubleBuffer, true);

            //Initialize the point to start in the top left corner
            mPoint = new Point(mRect.Location.X, mRect.Location.X);


            //Set up the function to call when the timer fires
            TimerCallback timercb = new TimerCallback(TimerCB);

            //Set up the timer to fire at the set animation rate
            mTimer = new System.Threading.Timer(timercb, null, ANIMATION_RATE, ANIMATION_RATE);

        }


        /// <summary>
        /// Move the point to the next location on the rectangle
        /// </summary>
        private void MovePoint()
        {

            //Move along the right side
            if (mPoint.X == mRect.Right)
            {

                //Only do it if we aren't at the bottom of the right edge
                if (mPoint.Y != mRect.Bottom)
                {
                    mPoint.Offset(0,1);

                    return;
                }
            }


            //Move along the bottom side
            if (mPoint.Y == mRect.Bottom)
            {

                //Only do it if we aren't at the left side of the bottom edge
                if (mPoint.X != mRect.Left)
                {
                     mPoint.Offset(-1,0);

                    return;
                }
            }


            //Move along the left side
            if (mPoint.X == mRect.Left)
            {

                //Only do it if we aren't at the top side of the left edge
                if (mPoint.Y != mRect.Top)
                {
                    mPoint.Offset(0,-1);
                }
            }


            //Move along the top side
            if (mPoint.Y == mRect.Top)
            {
                //Only do it if we aren't at the right side of the top edge
                if (mPoint.X != mRect.Right)
                {
                    mPoint.Offset(1,0);
                }
            }
        }


        /// <summary>
        /// Clean up any resources being used.
        /// </summary>
        protected override void Dispose( bool disposing )
        {
            if( disposing )
            {
                if (components != null) 
                {
                    components.Dispose();
                }
            }
            base.Dispose( disposing );
        }

        #region Windows Form Designer generated code
        /// <summary>
        /// Required method for Designer support - do not modify
        /// the contents of this method with the code editor.
        /// </summary>
        private void InitializeComponent()
        {
            this.components = new System.ComponentModel.Container();
            this.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(300,300);
            this.Text = "Form1";
        }
        #endregion

        /// <summary>
        /// The main entry point for the application.
        /// </summary>
        [STAThread]
        static void Main() 
        {
            Application.Run(new Form1());
        }
    
        /// <summary>
        /// Handle painting the form
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="e"></param>
        protected override void OnPaint(PaintEventArgs e)
        {
            //Get a reference to the graphics object
            Graphics g = e.Graphics;

            //Fill the background of the client area
            g.FillRectangle(SystemBrushes.Control, this.ClientRectangle);

            //Draw the big rectangle track
            g.DrawRectangle(Pens.Black, mRect);

            //Clone the point
            Point p = new Point(mPoint.X, mPoint.Y);
            
            //Offset it by half the width and height of the desired rectangle
            p.Offset(-(RECT_WIDTH/2), -(RECT_HEIGHT/2));

            //Draw the little moving rectangle
            g.FillRectangle(Brushes.White, new Rectangle(p, new Size(RECT_WIDTH, RECT_HEIGHT)));
        }


        /// <summary>
        /// This is called when the timer fires.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="o"></param>
        protected void TimerCB(object o)
        {

            //Move the rectangle
            MovePoint();

            //Redraw the form
            Invalidate();
        }
    }
}

Thank you CompuRocket, thats exactly what i meant, I have achieved it, however i will look at your code and see what i can learn from it.

i wish this forum notified you when someone posts a reply, i have checked to see if i can set a switch.


luigi

There´s an option at thread tools under each thread, subscribe should be the first tool listed.

Or go to User CP , choose options, Messaging & Notification ->

Default Thread Subscription Mode When you post a new thread, or reply to a topic, you can choose to automatically add that thread to your list of subscribed threads, with the option to receive email notification of new replies to that thread. Do not subscribeNo email notificationInstant email notificationDaily email notificationWeekly email notification Default Thread Subscription Mode: